LOGINCHAPTER 138DREYDEN“Are you checking Aurelia’s picture again?”I look up from my phone to find Dreylen standing at my office door, grinning like he has just caught me committing a crime.“Don't you have work to do?”“I do, but apparently, you have something more important to attend to.”I turn my phone facedown. “Get out.”He laughs and walks into my office, dropping into the chair opposite my desk.“There's nothing wrong with missing your woman, brother. You don't have to hide it.”“Coming from the man who spent half of breakfast staring at her across the table?”His grin disappears. “I was listening to her talk.”“You were staring at her mouth.”“Dreyden!” I burst out laughing, and he points a warning finger at me.“Keep laughing. I'll remind you of this conversation when you start behaving like a lovesick idiot again.”“You mean when I do exactly what you do every day?” He rolls his eyes.We both know there's no point pretending. All four of us are hopeless when it comes to Aureli
Chapter 137"Tell them the arrangements are being postponed. Nothing needs to happen until I give you the word.""Some of them may lose interest.""Then find people who can be patient.""Aurelia, you know this isn't as simple as making a few phone calls.""I know.""Once you start pulling at these threads, you may not be able to control where they lead." I close my eyes."I've thought about that.""Have you?"His question irritates me because it sounds too much like concern, and I am not in the mood to be reminded that my decisions might have consequences."Julian, I need you to understand something. I'm not asking you to do anything today. I'm asking you to wait." Silence stretches between us.Then he asks, "What changed your mind?"I could tell him the truth.That Dreyden kissed my forehead last night, and for a moment, I wanted to forget every terrible thing I had learned about these men.That I laughed with Drayton this morning and caught myself wondering whether we could ever ret
Chapter 136AureliaDreyden's words settle between us, warm and tender, and for a moment, I forget how to breathe.He is looking at me as though I am the only woman in the world capable of making him feel this way, his fingers wrapped around mine while his thumb moves slowly over my knuckles.I want to believe him. God, how badly I want to believe him.Because if there is one thing I have learned since returning to this house, it is that falling in love with these four men again is far easier than I ever expected. They make it effortless with their ridiculous arguments, their unexpected kindness, and the little things they do when they think I am not paying attention.Dreyden remembers how I take my coffee.Drayton knows exactly which jokes will make me laugh when I am trying to remain angry.Dreylen looks at me as though every expression on my face is worth studying, and Dreyven still has the annoying habit of placing himself between me and anything he considers dangerous.Sometimes
Chapter 135Because I have seen Dreylen's face when he draws. And I am no longer certain I want to hurt him.Dreyven is different. His motorcycles are his life.He repairs them, modifies them, races them, and spends so much time in his garage that I sometimes wonder whether he sleeps there when nobody is watching.His business has grown because people trust him.They trust his hands, his judgment, and his ability to turn a damaged machine into something beautiful again.If Dreyden's pride lies in winning, Drayven's lies in never letting anyone leave his workshop disappointed.I want him to feel that same uncertainty."His garage has a strong reputation," Julian says. "People travel to him because they believe his work is better than anyone else's.""Then I want to know how strong that reputation really is.""What do you mean?""I want an independent inspection of his workshop's standards. His repair records, his quality checks, the way he handles customer complaints. Everything that w
Chapter 134I wait until the house is quiet before I make the call.I lock myself inside the guest bathroom, turn on the tap to cover any sound, and pull out the phone I have kept hidden since the night I listened to the recording.For several seconds, I stare at the name on the screen.Julian.I press his number. He answers on the second ring."Aurelia?""It's time."Silence. Then his voice sharpens."You're sure?" I close my eyes.I think about Dreyden's hand resting on mine at breakfast.Drayton's laughter. Dreylen's drawing. Dreyven's stubborn refusal to let me walk out of the house alone.I think about how easily I have begun to fall for them again. And I hate myself a little for it."I'm sure," I whisper. "We've waited long enough.""What's changed?" "Everything." I move toward the window and look out at the garden."They think they've won. They think I've finally accepted their explanation for everything, and they believe I'm happy enough to stay here forever.""And are you?"
Chapter 133AureliaTwo weeks ago, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted from these men.I wanted them to love me enough to trust me, to believe I had finally stopped looking for a way out, and to lower their guards until I could make them pay for every lie they had told me.Now, as I sit between them at breakfast, listening to Drayton argue with Dreyven over the last piece of toast while Dreylen sketches something on a napkin and Dreyden reads through a stack of documents, I have a different problem.I'm beginning to love them again. And that is dangerous.Because the more time I spend with them, the harder it becomes to separate the men who make me laugh from the men who deliberately played with my feelings twice.Sometimes I look at them and remember the recording and everything they've ever done.Other times, I see the way Dreyven automatically moves my coffee away from the edge of the table because he knows I am clumsy when I'm distracted, or how Drayton saves the funniest stori







